when hp specs about cars are given aboout cars is that at the flywheel or at the wheels?(eg. when it says that 1.6L sohc civic has 106 hp is that at flywheel or at wheels)
WHat exactly does the flywheel mean?
thanks

 

hp ratings are given at the crank, or flywheel. if you have an automatic, then it would be the torque converter. as you can probably imagine, the amount of hp will decrease over length, that is why there is a different hp "at the wheels". a car generally loses 15% of the crank horsepower when it gets to the wheels. so the 106 hp civic will actually be doing 90 something hp at the wheels. i am not sure if you get the car dyno'd whether it reads hp at the crank or wheels, since i have never done a dyno.

 

When you dyno a car, it's given at the wheels, unless you take the engine out.